Tiger Woods Wins 2012 AT&T National Tournament

When Tiger Woods claimed victory at the 2012 AT&T National, many wondered if this means Woods is “back.” One thing that was certainly back was the television viewership for the AT&T National. According to reports, the ratings for the annual tournament were up significantly with Woods in contention.

While Nick Watney is a good golfer in his own right, he clearly doesn’t have the pulling power or draw of someone like Woods. In the past, Woods has been a massive draw on television, especially when he’s in contention on the final day.

The guy Tiger Woods beat in head-to-head play down the stretch on Sunday at Congressional Country Club knew whereof he spoke. With a front-row seat to his playing partner’s third win of the season, Bo Van Pelt watched Woods grind out his 74th tour victory, surpassing Jack Nicklaus along the way, and pronounced him better than most.

”No offense to any of those other guys, but I think he’s the only guy to win three tournaments on tour this year,” Van Pelt told reporters after finally blinking on the 17th hole, allowing Woods (8-under) to win the AT&T National by two strokes. “On three different golf courses, and he was leading the U.S. Open after two days. So I’d say that he’s playing the best golf in the world right now.”

I will not answer “is Tiger Woods back?” I will not answer “is Tiger Woods back?” But someone might search for “is Tiger Woods back?” so...

Is Tiger Woods back? I will not say Tiger Woods is “back.” “Back” implies he’s on a plane entirely his own, where the rest of the PGA Tour follows him like he’s the North Star. You know, they can move toward him, but they’re never actually getting closer. This week’s win at the AT&T National doesn’t mean he’s there. That said, is anyone right now absolutely better than Woods? As our Andy Hutchins pointed out, his three wins are more than anyone this year, and more than anyone had all of 2011. He’s first in FedEx Cup points, ranked fourth in the world and is the tour money leader. I’ve said, many times, that Tiger’s become another guy on the Tour. That was unfair. He’s no longer some superhero, but he’s still the best golfer in the world. Considering how far he fell, that we can still say that in July 2012 says a lot about how singular Tiger Woods was, and how special he continues to be.

Tiger Woods has put his fans and doubters alike on a critical rollercoaster over the past couple of years that is unlike any other in professional sports. Will he ever be ‘back’? Can he break Jack Nicklaus’ major record? And even if he’s started winning regular season events again, will those victories be enough to silence even his most aggressive doubters?

After winning his third tournament of the season on Sunday afternoon at his self-hosted AT&T National, I don’t think there is any question that Tiger is, in fact, back.

After his epic collapse at the U.S. Open, many were questioning whether Tiger Woods would be mentally shaken and regress after winning two tournaments in the year’s early going and playing among the best golf of anyone on tour. At the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., the tournament Woods hosts, Tiger quickly erased all doubts, winning in style by outdueling Bo Van Pelt for his third title of the year. This makes him the first golfer to do that on the PGA Tour this season.

Tiger and Van Pelt went back and forth on the back nine on Sunday, distancing themselves from the rest of the field. They were knotted until the 17th hole, when Van Pelt bogeyed, allowing Woods to par his final two holes and close out with a two-under round of 69 and a a 72-hole score of -8. Van Pelt bogeyed 18 as well, finishing in second place at -6. Adam Scott finished in third at -5.

AT&T National co-leaders Bo Van Pelt and noted golf enthusiast Tiger Woods birdied 15, then bogeyed 16 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., before teeing off at the par-4 17th hole. Van Pelt pulled his tee shot way left, and after landing close to the gallery, got a fortunate bounce and almost made it to the fairway. Tiger, on the other hand, crushed his drive and landed it nicely on the fairway, only to see it bounce into the rough as well.

Van Pelt couldn’t capitalize on his good fortunate, crushing his iron shot way over the green -- an undesirable place on 17 -- and tried to flop it onto the green. He actually executed his flop nicely, but it rolled off the green into the first cut. Woods left his second shot a tad short of the green and, after seeing Van Pelt assure himself of at least a bogey, simply tried to scoot his chip close to the hole without going by, which he did effectively, to about six feet.

After hitting impressive birdie putts on the 15th hole, Tiger Woods and Bo Van Pelt were four strokes ahead of the pack at the AT&T National and tied at -9. Then came the next tee shot, on the par-5 16th hole, which was pretty much the opposite of the last putt. Woods put his into the gallery, and Van Pelt put his approach next to a bunker, leading him to waste a stroke.

Tiger, however, nearly holed in his chip-in from the fairway a few dozens yards from the hole, and had about a 14-foot par putt, which he just missed, tapping in for bogey. Van Pelt hit his approach past the green, almost putted in from the fringe before tapping in. They’re both at -8 through 16 now, three strokes ahead of Adam Scott.

Tiger Woods and Bo Van Pelt are still going it at, hanging with each other on the back nine at Congressional. The 15th hole was full of fireworks, with Tiger facing a long putt for birdie and Van Pelt facing a shorter putt on a similar line. Both were tricky, downhill sliders, and Tiger needed to play for a significant amount of break.

No problem at all.

The 2012 AT&T National is now a match play tournament, with Tiger Woods and Bo Van Pelt battling back-and-forth as play winds down at Congressional. The two are three up on the rest of the field, and playing in the same group in what’s become a head-to-head battle. Both are tied for the lead at 8-under, and both are playing stroke-for-stroke at the moment.

Woods is in a groove, sitting at 2-under for the day and striking the ball rather well. Two birdies on the front got him to 8-under, in solo first for the tournament. But he’s gone quiet since a birdie on nine, recording pars on the next five holes.

Tiger Woods has moved into the lead at the AT&T National, taking a one-shot lead over Bo Van Pelt after nine holes on Sunday. Woods went for a 2-under 34 on the front side at Congressional, moving into sole possession of the lead at 8-under. Woods made the turn at No. 9 with a birdie to take the lead. The ninth at Congressional is a true three-shot par-5, a rarity on Tour these days. But Woods hit a fantastic approach shot from a bad lie in the rough. He cleared the dramatic valley in front of the green and stuck his wedge to about ten feet and converted the birdie with another clutch putt.

Woods continues his bogey-free ways at Congressional. He has not made a bogey since his first hole on Friday, steadily attacking Congressional as he goes for his second win at his own event. Woods won the AT&T National in 2009 by blowing out Anthony Kim in the day’s final pairing and withstanding an early charge from Hunter Mahan’s Sunday round of 62. A win on Sunday would be his third of the season and put him in first place in the FedEx Cup standings for the first time in three years.

Tiger Woods continues his charge for his third win of the season, looking to pull off a trifecta at the three tournaments hosted by the biggest names in the history of the game -- Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Woods himself. Tiger won his tournament at Congressional three years ago before it moved north to Aronimink, and he’s battling Bo Van Pelt and Adam Scott for his second win at the event. Woods is 1-under through his first eight holes at Congressional, good enough to hold a tie for the lead with playing partner Van Pelt at 7-under. Woods carded his only birdie of the day on the par-4 5th.

Van Pelt is at 7-under after playing his first eight holes at 1-under par. The super-talented Oklahoman is consistently in contention and has had plenty of top tens over the past three seasons. But despite his hefty earnings, he has just one Tour win. Both he and Woods are two shots clear of rest of the field. Van Pelt will try to fight off Woods on the back nine at his own tournament -- a difficult proposition that Anthony Kim struggled with here three years ago.

Despite battling weather conditions and delays, the 2012 AT&T National will wrap up Sunday with the final round from the Congressional Country Club. Brendon de Jonge enters the final round with the lead but three players, including Tiger Woods, are just one stroke behind.

Woods enters the final round at 6-under after shooting a 67 on Saturday. He will play with de Jonge and Bo Van Pelt on Sunday. Hunter Mahan, who is challenging for the Fed Ex Cup lead, begins Sunday two-strokes back at 5-under. Mahan will play with Seung-Yul Noh and Billy Hurley III in the final round.

It’s not often that Tiger Woods chips in for a birdie when it counts and hears no roars from the gallery. But with spectators banned for their own safety from Saturday’s third round of the AT&T National after a huge windstorm uprooted trees across Congressional Country Club, Woods and his PGA Tour brethren basically had the course to themselves.

The host of the tourney that usually attracts hordes of fans clamoring for a glimpse of the star attraction took advantage of the quiet to fire a 4-under 67 and move to within one shot of Brendon de Jonge’s 7-under lead. At five back to start the day, Woods took the field after a six-hour postponement during which maintenance crews removed more than 40 large trees, including a 75-footer that fell across the 14th fairway. The widespread damage came from Friday night winds that reached 80 m.p.h. and caused power outages for nearly 500,000 area residents.

Tiger Woods completed his third round of the AT&T National Saturday night, capping a day in which he vaulted himself into contention in his own event. Woods, a noted golf enthusiast, started strong and finished steady to bring himself within a stroke of the lead.

In all, Woods managed to shoot 4-under and vault nine slots upward, thanks to birdies on the first, third, sixth and 10th holes. His enthusiasm of golf -- just golf, in general -- was rewarded. He enters Friday in a tie for second place with fellow American Bo Van Pelt. As of this writing, Brendan du Jonge holds a single-stroke lead over the two with two holes left to play in his third round.

Tiger Woods is one of three tied for second place at the AT&T National, as the leaders play the back nine of their third round. Along with Hunter Mahan and Bo Van Pelt, Woods is chasing leader Brendon de Jonge, who is having another solid day after going 5-under through the first two days of the tournament.

De Jong is currently 2-under on the day and 7-under for the tournament. He’s had a bogey-free round thus far, with birdies coming on the 2nd and 6th holes. Woods and Van Pelt are both 4-under for the day and 6-under for the tournament, and both have played bogey-free rounds as well. Woods has completed 13 holes and his last birdie came on the 10th.

As the weather in Bethesda, Md. has gotten hotter, so has the play of Tiger Woods. After shooting a +1 on Thursday when the mercury wasn’t hitting triple digits, Tiger fired a three-under round on Friday and, through seven holes on Saturday, he’s at -3 again after birdieing holes one, three and six.

Woods now finds himself just one stroke back of the AT&T National leaders Hunter Mahan and Brendan De Jonge, who each are sitting at six-under through five holes. Woods is in a four-way tie for third place with Jhonattan Vegas, Pat Perez, and Robert Garrigus. Woods holed a 45-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole yesterday, so it wouldn’t be unexpected for him to continue to drop his score as the round goes on. A strong ending on Saturday would be a good sign that he’s capable of bouncing back and winning tournaments after his epic U.S. Open collapse at Olympic.

The Saturday round of the 2012 AT&T National won’t be teeing off until at least 1 p.m. ET, and whenever it does, there won’t be any fans there to witness it. Officials at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland have decided to shut down the event to the public.

According to the official tournament’s Twitter feed, volunteers will also be shut out of the event, meaning just players and caddies will be walking the course on Saturday.

The 2012 AT&T National continues Saturday with the third round from Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.. Hunter Mahan heads into the weekend with the lead thanks to a 6-under 65 on Friday.

Mahan, who leads the tournament by two strokes at 7-under, will play with Brendon de Jonge on Saturday. Vijay Singh, who begins the third round three strokes behind at 4-under, will be paired with Cameron Tringale. The 2009 winner the AT&T National, Tiger Woods heads into the weekend five back at 2-under. Woods will play with Bo Van Pelt, who is also 2-under.

Hunter Mahan shot 6-under Friday to move atop the leaderboard at the 2012 AT&T National. He ended the day with birdies on No. 16 and No. 18 at the Congressional Country Club to finish with the lowest single round score of any player so far at the tournament. Mahan is now at 7-under overall, leading his next closest competitors by two strokes.

Brendon de Jonge led for much of the round after hitting his third birdie of the day on No. 16. Jimmy Walker hit two birdies on the back nine to tie de Jonge at 5-under. Robert Garrigus joined them with an eventful round that featured seven birdies and three bogeys.

What’s a little heat and humidity to an athlete with zero body fat? With Friday’s temperatures hovering around the 100-degree mark and a heat index of 104 by the time he dropped his final putt of the day at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Tiger Woods brushed aside any concerns about playing conditions.

“That’s why I train, that’s why I run all those miles. If you’re carrying a little bit of body fat, it’s going to be a little insulation out there,” Woods told reporters after carding a 3-under 68 in Friday’s second round to put himself into contention for the weekend at the AT&T National. “This is when fitness does help, and I figured that’s one of the reasons why I’ve had the success I’ve had in the elements.”

Early into Friday’s second round of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, it appeared that the extra putting practice Tiger Woods put in after shooting a lackluster 72 on Thursday was paying off.

After reaching the par-5 16th green in two from 240 yards out, Woods rolled in a 50-foot eagle putt to get to 2-under for the day.

On a day that felt more like another U.S. Open championship than your run-of-the-mill PGA Tour event, Bo Van Pelt is your first-round leader at the 2012 AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., after a 4-under 67.

Tournament host and 2009 winner Tiger Woods stumbled into the clubhouse at a 1-over 72, mainly due to poor bunker play on a number of Congressional’s holes. When asked about his struggles and those of his fellow competitors on Thursday, Woods basically blamed his 60-degree sand wedge and indifference.

The 2012 AT&T National will begin its first round on Thursday. The Washington, D.C.-area tournament was founded in 2007 and is hosted by Tiger Woods, with proceeds going to the Tiger Woods Foundation. The PGA event will take place at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and will feature many of the world’s top golfers, including Woods himself.

Woods will be the biggest story in the tournament, of course. Beyond the normal amount of discussion and analysis that the most famous golfer in the world typically generates, he has not played in his event since 2009 -- when he won it all.